Dusting of snow in Bangor spurs run for new tires, businesses say

BANGOR, Maine — Shortly after the Queen City got a dusting of snow early Monday evening, businesses that provide winter tires and services started to get calls, their employees said.

Bangor Tire Co. on Market Street and Tires, Batteries and Accessories Inc. on outer Hammond Street both reported an uptake in calls.

“We’ve been right out straight,” Tommy Tardiff, a service writer for Bangor Tire, said Tuesday. “They’re changing over to snow tires or they are buying snow tires.”

Snow tires could be used in Maine starting on Oct. 1, but most people do not typically start to prepare for winter driving “until the flakes start to fly,” Tardiff said.

This year, customers are starting already because of the snow and “people are also talking about the Nor’easter” that may hit the area on Thursday, he said.

The Bangor area saw spitting snow throughout Monday. Snow started to fall steadily shortly after 5 p.m. and came down for about 30 minutes, according to Pete Rahe of the National Weather Service in Caribou.

“It was just a dusting,” he said. “It doesn’t count as accumulation. It’s a trace.”

Even with just a trace of snow, customers worried about their tires and batteries lasting throughout the winter started to contact Tires, Batteries and Accessories, said an employee named John who answered the phone on Tuesday.

“They’re calling to get prices,” the store employee said. Monday’s snow “kicked it up quite a bit.”

In years past, customers have waited until the last second to get service.

“They wait, then they panic,” he said, adding it is always good to call ahead of time.